Paranoid
by ILoveReadingAndWriting
Summary: Dreams really can come true and things aren't always what they seem. That's what I've always believed anyway, and that's why I am where I am today - Welcome Wizards, Witches, Formerly-Thought-To-Be-Muggles and All! GoldenEra
1. Dreams

**Welcome one and all to my newest fanfiction! Yeah, a Harry Potter fanfiction alright, and no worries, this is a really sporadic post and I won't be giving up on my Naruto story at all. One day (a few days ago) I was clearing out old files on my computer and I found this. Within half an hour I had it polished up and couldn't resist posting it. This story will be updated less frequently than my Naruto story, and like my Naruto story it's a very iffy-updating system until the summer. No joke, blame school. I'm constantly swamped.**

**Anyway, so this is my newest Harry Potter fanfiction, and the only one I've ever posted on here. I hope you guys like it so far! I always like to hear your predictions of what you think will happen next, too!**

**~Mari**

* * *

Call me paranoid, but I'm sure there are many others like me.

Those of us who have read books or watched movies that left us wishing… left us hoping even if the rational parts of our minds agreed that believing was stupid… that our dreams were impossible.

Regardless, there are those of us that smile at the invisible things, stop in the middle of our rooms and look out our windows, waiting, hoping, wishing that perhaps if we can't see our dreams, those amazing people in them can see us…

I'm here to tell you not to give up. Why? Simply because I'm one of those paranoid people that can't help but think the invisible is there and that the wool is either being pulled over my eyes or at least somewhere, in some alternate universe, my dreams might JUST be true.

I'm also here to tell you… how my dream really _did_ come true… and that the feeling you get when you're walking down the streets of London past a certain brick wall of being idly watched isn't just your hopes fabricating falsities in your head. Of course, I always knew there was more than one place that this happened. The unexplainable things always happened around me and I can't quite say why. I'm a rather normal person, if I can take the liberty of saying what normal really is, and I haven't done anything particularly extraordinary in my life.

This brick wall first came to the forefront of my mind after I finished a particularly fascinating book series that goes by the name of _Harry Potter._ This "Harry Potter" would also be the main character, a mistreated boy with dead parents who lives with his abusive uncle, aunt, and cousin. Upon his eleventh birthday he would be swept away on an adventure to a magical land living in harmony with the "muggle" world – or the world of non-magical people. He was a wizard and was formally invited to attend Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

Parallel to the plot, I awaited my eleventh birthday as Harry might have if he had known of that magical world; I simply couldn't wait. Being born in December I was a little worried about how I could be accepted to Hogwarts. Would I wait until the school year began again or would I receive my letter on my birthday? When the letter didn't arrive I wasn't too worried.

'_It'll come in the summer,'_ I thought. My being a kid, my parents understood my wish for adventure. They didn't stop me… or couldn't really. They tried to tell me nothing would happen, that witches, wizards, centaurs, dark lords, goblins and the like didn't exist. I thought, _'surely they must! How else could people have come up with them?'_ But the summer came and went and I was once more shipped off to my normal muggle school with normal muggle subjects, learning normal muggle things. When I arrived home on the first day and my mother asked me how school was I ran to my room and cried. Such is the result of dreams being crushed.

Over the years I've gotten over it. I've kept my head buried in books, determined that if I wasn't able to live those adventurous, magical lives, that I would get as close to them as possible. I read of flocks of flying kids, sparkling vampires, fourteen-year-old British spies, and cats that lived in clans and had lives perhaps as realistically dramatic as those of our own. I poured over book after book, took to writing my own fan-based stories. Literature had become a part of me and me a part of it. I could live my dreams out on paper while appeasing my parents in their thoughts of more plausible and realistic goals: going to college, becoming a doctor, marrying and having their grandchildren.

Luckily I'm still twelve and all of that is rather far off. Quite frankly I have no interest in those last two goals and can settle for the former pair. College and the field of medicine sound reasonable for a normal, unexciting girl like me. I'd be smart, help people, and live a healthy, average life before dying and doing whatever comes after death if anything at all. Such was the way of the world and I'd come to accept that. However… it never stopped me from indulging myself in those little fantasies.

I make a point of stargazing every night. I point out all of the constellations, the named stars that I can see by the city lights. I've been fortunate to even see six of the Seven Sisters – a group of stars named from Greek mythology and possibly one of my favorite groupings of stars. As I looked at these stars from my bedroom window or my back yard I liked to fancy that I wasn't the only one looking at them… or rather that my favorite characters from certain series or books are looking at them, thinking the same things I was.

My indulgences in my day-dreams were small. Smiling to myself knowingly as though someone were there, like I knew something they didn't expect. Looking at the plain, ordinary things with a range of expressions that suggest they're something they really aren't, is common. I had taken to talking to myself on numerous occasions, pondering out loud really. Not necessarily in the manner of pretending someone were listening, but more in the manner of a girl who needs someone to listen and only has herself to talk to, sounding her ideas out loud in hopes that she can pass a good enough judgment on her own words. I did little things, seemingly normal things, or perhaps things merely normal for me. No one questioned them and maybe they didn't even notice. I was fine with it, I didn't really care. I supposed it was just my way of sending out some kind of signal, like those alien apocalypse movies sending warnings of impending doom through radio waves and such… except I never planned on destroying any planets or eating brains any time soon. I just wanted my wishes to know, in the case that they really did exist, that there is one girl who could believe without seeing… and who respected the fact that she couldn't do anything about it enough to leave them alone.

The prime example of this was that brick wall. It left a strange feeling in me, one that sent tingles up my spine, a feeling of strange breathlessness. I forced myself to look at it in passing like everyone else. I was afraid, quite honestly, of this feeling. I was so very afraid that I was getting too involved in my day dreaming. I knew what it felt like to put too much hope into a dream coming true and I never wanted to feel it again. That brick wall caused an internal war in me. From behind it adventure started, but I forced myself to suppress that feeling. No, it was just a normal brick wall. If I walked at it I would only hit my head and look like a moron… I could settle with the fact that I was normal. I wasn't entitled to adventure. My parents were normal, my ancestors were _boringly_ normal, and my life was probably one of the most _dreadfully, averagely, mind-bogglingly __normal_ lives anyone had ever lived. Some other kid could walk through that wall. I wasn't invited to and I knew that if I tried… my dreams might cease to exist. By bottling that wall up and setting it into the far corners of my mind I would preserve the belief that anything was possible.

Every day I passed that wall on my way to and from school. Admittedly it was the only thing I refused to give those private looks to with a vengeance. I never smiled knowingly… or even smiled at all. My refusal to give up my dreams was a serious and real as that feeling I got every time I approached that stretch of sidewalk. I would look in the windows of the store to either side of it, but never would I glance at that wall in more than a passing gesture. I was to remain normal because that was my destiny. Fate had made its mark, in my mind, on the very day I _didn't_ receive my letter to that wizarding school.

Long gone were my days of actively searching my mom's garden for gnomes and my closet for fairies. I no longer picked up twigs, waving them like wands and giggling as I casted spells on my friends. I didn't jump off swings, trying to fly or even dress up for Halloween. I hadn't, however, quite given up belief that those things could be real. Not yet.

It's a good thing too. For if I had, I never would have done what I did that day…

The day that all my dreams came true…

Heh, or maybe just one of them~


	2. Discoveries

**Here is Chapter 2 of my latest story! I already had much of it typed up, so please don't expect an update all too soon. Not until summer which, may I remind you, is very close at hand. Please be patient with me until then!**

**~Mari**

* * *

It had been a pleasant day with clear blue skies and a warm breeze, something not too common in the London she had grown up in.

Skipping merrily along the sidewalk was none other than Emry Cayes, a twelve-year-old musical prodigy with a spunky and outgoing attitude. It just so happens that this young girl was on her way back home from one of the most important musical auditions of the year…

And she had made it.

It was no wonder that people stared as she passed, her smile blinding and her green-blue eyes sparkling merrily. As she slowed down to a walk she continued to wave and greet even those who were strangers to her, all the while slowly approaching one spot that seemed to be such a significant place in her life.

Soon enough she was upon it; the brick wall standing there as ordinary as ever, a dull brown-red clearly weathered over the years.

"Either this is a really long shortcut or a really short long cut. Take your pick," she murmured to herself with a mischievous smile. It was one of her favorite sayings to describe places she didn't quite want to go, but felt pulled towards or had to go anyway. With a sigh and a jovial shrug of her shoulders she approached the stretch of brick wall with a bounce in her step, waving to the people in the windows of the store to the wall's immediate right.

Feeling elated and rebellious, she did without thinking, something she never thought she would do. When she finally reached the brink wall, skipping merrily past it she shared one of her smiles – one of her secret smiles – with it, and gave a little wave. Had anyone seen her commit such an act they would have thought her totally off her rocker, but she didn't care. After all, she never really did care what others thought of her, especially when she was in a good mood.

Somewhere in her heart she was a little disappointed when nothing happened, a little disappointed that she had given up her last chance at her dreams. You see, she always regarded that wall with a sort of fear. Not the kind where one would believe a monster would reach out and snatch her, but the kind that if she indulged in acknowledging that brick wall and nothing happened, then those fantasies that lay beyond it in her little creative mind would suddenly turn into bricks. She, like the rest of the adult world, would be weighed down with the terrible feeling of clipped wings. That brick wall was her last chance at childhood, she figured. It was her very last chance. As such, she'd been bottling and saving it up for the right moment. When? Well, she never quite knew that herself, but she fancied that she would when the time came.

Despite this feeling, she put stock in what she had done. _'Not everything has an immediate outcome. Who knows? Perhaps it'll just take time. Anyway, if I go thinking about it and making wishes, I might just jinx it.'_ And so, she resolutely directed her mind towards other topics, primarily the cause for her lighthearted mood, and continued on her way home, smile blinding and eyes merry.

**-line-line-line-line-line-line-line-line-line-line-of-awesomeness-line-line-line-line-line-line-line-line-line-**

'_Same-old, same-old,'_ were the thoughts of a magical reporter. You heard right – _magical._ This reporter is none other than twenty-year-old witch, Mariah Bakely, newest intern of the Daily Prophet. At the moment she sat in the downstairs pub of the Leaky Cauldron after a long afternoon in the office, gazing out the window to people watch. With her finger, she idly led a spoon to stir her tea – one of the very few bits of wandless magic she knew and quite useful if you were to ask her.

Mariah's grey-green gaze skimmed over the crowds of muggles, searching out the regulars that were as punctual as always. Something, however, seemed a bit off in the completely normal scene of oblivious muggles, and it wasn't until she saw a golden blonde head highlighted with various vivid colors that she noticed what it was. The little muggle girl was late, though Mariah couldn't fathom why. She had always come trotting down the way at exactly four thirty-two in the afternoon – sometimes four forty if she stretched it. Now, though, it was nearly four forty-five. Ever the creative one, our magical reporter's mind leapt to all sorts of crazy excuses the girl might have.

Perhaps she had a boyfriend? Didn't girls her age have boyfriends nowadays? Or had there been a car accident down the way that held her up? Perhaps a muggle mugger had tried something on the twelve-or-so-year-old, or better yet, perhaps a teacher at her muggle school had held her back in class for a moment? No, that wouldn't be right. Summer started nearly two weeks ago, after all. All these seemingly ordinary parts of a muggle's life fascinated her. She had been born and raised in a purely magical community and so found the muggle world very backward, but very interesting. No, she just didn't know how those non-magical folk did it, nor did she think she would ever.

Regardless of the countless thoughts running through the woman's head, the was room yet left for her to easily take note that the bright, colorful figure so easily discernable from the crowd seemed to be _skipping._ Indeed she was, and all but glowing, too. Muggles skittered out of her way left and right, a few giving nervous smiles or strange looks to her amiable and quite obviously excited demeanor. Others brushed past her without a single care and the rare one or two smiled back at her – even threw in a "good afternoon" for good measure. Mariah's natural reporter-curiosity begged to know what caused this deviation from the norm, but had to be suppressed. It wouldn't do to badger some poor muggle girl about her personal life, especially since she was a complete stranger.

The muggle slowed to a walk for a moment, a bounce evident in her step. Soon enough she would walk past the brick wall the magical pub appeared to be without a second glance as always and one of the brightest – literally – rays to be found in the cloudy streets of London would pass from sight once more.

Mariah twirled a bronze strand of hair around her index finger as she took a sip of her herbal tea. She wondered what she would look like with those bright, multi-colored highlights. She probably shouldn't, though. Her boss wouldn't take her seriously and she needed this job.

The sound of a shattering glass brought her out of her reverie and her gaze snapped to her right to see several other witches and wizards staring in shock at the window to her left. Tom had been the one to drop a small tankard, though it was nothing a little magic couldn't repair. The sense of alarm caused Mariah's gaze to sweep more quickly in the popular direction in time to see the pretty blonde's smile and wave at the seemingly-brick-wall that was actually the storefront of the Leaky Cauldron. For once, Mariah was at a loss for words.

'_Could it be…?'_

As soon as the girl passed from view the entirety of the pub was in an uproar.

"A muggle girl saw us! A MUGGLE GIRL!"

"Maybe she's just loony, ya know?"

"Did you see that gleam in her eye? She knows something! How can she know something?"

"We need to contact the Ministry!"

"Tom, what happened? Is the Leaky Cauldron not safe? How did a muggle see through the magical barriers?"

"QUUUIIIIIEEEEEEEEETTTTTTT!"

All sound stopped and a young man cleared his throat, clearly bearing ministry attire. He had been the one to call for silence but had, a moment later, assumed a rather more dignified air.

"It just so happens that I am head of the Department of Magical Seals and Bonds in the Ministry and I believe there is a rather common and simple explanation for this. You see…"

**What do you think? Please read and review! Tell me what you think will happen!**

**~Mari**


	3. Newspaper Articles

**Chapter 3 is finally up! I'd like to dedicate this chapter to BlackDemonFox for messaging me and getting my muse back! Thank you so much!**

**~Mari**

* * *

The next morning the entire wizarding community throughout the UK was reading a front-page article written by a woman none had ever heard of before: Mariah Bakely. Overnight she had become the go-to reporter for information on the subject of her article – twelve year old, seemingly muggle Emry Cayes.

In one particular household of witches and wizards sat a young ministry worker with red hair and dark blue eyes getting ready to eat his breakfast of eggs, sausages, and toast. All that he awaited was the morning post owl with his subscription to the Daily Prophet.

"Good morning, dad. Where's mum?" The man's gaze fall to his third-eldest son, Percy, who was already dressed and ready for the day. Out of all seven of his children, Percy was the earliest riser, the most studious, and the most serious in nature. He planned to work at the Ministry when he graduated, like his father, but had yet to specify in what area of the ministry he would like to work.

"Right here, deary," twittered a warm, motherly figure from the kitchen. "You just take a seat now, and eat up. Are your brothers and sisters awake yet?" Molly Weasley was a robust, rosy-cheeked woman with bright blue eyes and caramel hair. She was a kind and doting mother but was not the least bit afraid to keep her children in line.

"I heard the twins moving about upstairs, so they must be," Percy replied, piling his plate with various breakfast foods from the spread before him. Laying out a spread every morning was the most convenient way to feed a family of nine, and so there was always one at a Weasley table.

Mere seconds later there came an impatient tap at the window.

"Arthur, would you get that? It's probably Errol with the post."

"Ah, it's the daily prophet, dear," said the red-haired man as he rose from his seat with a pleased smile. The owl wasn't Errol at all, but a tawny barn owl.

Arthur quickly exchanged the rolled-up newspaper for a knut and the owl took to the skies once more.

"What's in the news today, dad?" Percy inquired, looking up from a slice of toast.

"Well, let's see." Arthur unrolled the newspaper to the front page and read the headlines. "Oh my Merlin."

"What, what is it dear?" Molly wondered, uneasy about her husband's reaction.

"Listen to this: Muggles May Not Be Muggles by… who's Mariah Bakely? Ah, well, it says here that… yesterday afternoon a young muggle girl was spotted just outside the Leaky Cauldron and seemed to have seen through the protective spells cast to hide it! She reportedly gave those within the establishment a bright smile and wave before skipping off down the street."

"WHAT?"

"Shush, Molly, dear, listen to this. Apparently this Bakely reporter interviewed one of the pub's frequenters who just so happens to be head of the Department of Magical Seals and Bonds. That's Gary! I know him!"

"Keep reading, dad," Percy encouraged his easily excited father.

"He quickly dispelled any panic by explaining that muggles may not all be muggles."

"But how? Surely there aren't just a bunch of witches and wizards that haven't been counted by the wizarding community," Molly reasoned, standing beside her husband to give the offending newspaper article a skeptical look.

"He's explained that, actually. He says that it's not an uncommon practice for wizarding families to have sealed away the magical cores of their children to keep them from finding out about the wizarding world – in many cases to keep them safe. He refers to the time of the Dark Lord as an example and says that many wizarding families would have gone to great lengths to stay out of the reaches of the Dark Lord – even giving up their lives as witches and wizards."

"But how does that explain the muggle girl?"

"It should be somewhere here – Aha! Here it is!

_"This young, seemingly "muggle" girl might be the prime example of this," relayed Cartwright. When questioned as to how this girl could then see through the charms he had this to say: "The problem with sealing the magical cores of younger folks – especially children who have yet to even reach the proper schooling age – is that these magical cores have yet to fully mature. This means that as they grow, they stretch the seal and can eventually break it."_

_"Unfortunately," he admits, "the Ministry finds it difficult to find these children ones the seals do break. If their parents are unaware of the seal breaking or are no longer around to know, the seal won't be re-bound and their magic remains in a dormant state. These children are kept from ministry eyes simply due to a lack of usage of their magic and a lack of the body's ability to recognize or use it in any way. Only a little over a dozen people have been found in such a state in the recorded history of the wizarding world. It's been over a century since this has occurred, however, and it is thus, a little-studied subject. We know how to apply seals and remove them, but to track a sealed person is a difficult job indeed."_

"OI! GERROF ME!"

"Oh calm down, Ronnikins! We're just getting you up before mum comes up to blow a gasket!" One of the twins replied loudly, his voice easily floating down to the kitchen.

Molly frowned and shook her head disapprovingly, sending the other two a look that clearly stated "I'll be right back after I deal with those three," before heading up the winding staircase of their seven-story home. Arthur chuckled before looking back to the newspaper. Seeing nothing nearly as interesting, he re-folded it for the time being and turned to his meal.

"So, dad, do you think they'll search for this girl?"

"There's no doubt. No one knows what could happen if she were allowed to run rampant with the ability to interact unknowingly in both worlds. She could expose us – accidently or not."

Percy nodded thoughtfully as he chewed slowly on a bite of egg. When he swallowed he spoke up again.

"Do you think that she would go to Hogwarts?"

Arthur sighed, "I don't really know, son. I suppose it depends on the reasons for her sealing and whether or not her parents would allow her to go or have her re-sealed."

"I hope she does. She deserves to have a choice, you know? Imagine… I could have been her. Any of us could have. I don't think its right that they don't get to have a choice, even if it's just later in life." The red-haired teen stated resolutely. Arthur smiled proudly.

"Perhaps you can change that when you're older, but for now, we'll just see how things unfold."

"MUM! THE TWINS PUT SPIDERS IN MY CLOSET AGAIN!"

"SPIDERS?" Came Ron's shrill reply.

"FRED! GEORGE! GO APPOLOGIZE TO YOUR SISTER AND START ACTING YOUR AGE, NOT YOUR SHOE SIZE!"

"WE'RE SORRY GINNY DEAREST!"

"DON'T YELL IN THE HOUSE YOU TWO!"

Arthur sipped at his coffee and Percy rolled his eyes. Such was a normal morning – for the most part – in the Weasley household.

* * *

**Did I do well with the Weasleys? I'd really like to know whether I've kept them in character. There will be more involved character development in the future, of course. Please review! It makes my day when you do!**

**~Mari**


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